Does Vibe’s Closing Signal a Shake Up in Black Publishing?

By admin
Jul 13, 2009
5:04 pm

When the announcement was made last week that Vibe magazine was closing its doors, the reaction was immediate. While the news didn’t come as much of a surprise to insiders familiar with the magazine’s internal ups and downs, the shock of urban music losing its consistently voice was nevertheless unsettling.

With perhaps the most important urban music publication now gone and the death of several others over the past couple of years, including King and Scratch (both owned by Harris Publications), people are wondering about the future of black publishing.

“I think people get it misconstrued when they act like magazines are failing because people are all online and don’t want print,’ argues Elliot Wilson, founder of RapRadar.com and former editor-in-chief of XXL magazine.

The print publication industry is clearly going through hard times. Mega magazine, Blender, recently shut down and even Rolling Stone has shrunk its size from tabloid dimensions to that of a regular 8×11 magazine. However, urban magazines seem to be bearing the brunt of the industry’s financial problems. Only a handful of mainstream publications remain — including Essence, XXL (which is rumored to be financial trouble), Upscale, Jet and Ebony. While urban publications like Complex, URB and (yours truly) rolling out are still on the street, people are wondering how the economic issues will all shake out.

“The biggest problem with the print game is the lack of advertising,” says Wilson.
He contends it isn’t an issue of whether or not people are still interested in print publications, but rather advertisers being effected by the economy and pulling out their dollars.

“What’s happened is there isn’t enough advertising support, which is a reflection of the world that we’re in,” he says. “We’re in a recession.”

Another issue to consider for flailing urban publications is ownership. Harris Publications owns XXL and Slam, Time Warner owns Essence and Complex is owned by Marc Ecko. Even Vibe had been bought out by a white company. The only truly black owned publications still around are Jet, Ebony and Upscale. You have to wonder about the commitment level of corporations to the urban publications they own. It seems that they are quicker to throw in the towel during times of financial hardship because they lack the emotional investment in the communities that these publications serve.

So does the closing of Vibe (which Quincy Jones is rumored to be purchasing back) signal the total reformation of publishing as we know it? Only time will tell … but all indicators point to yes. –jacinta howard